E 249 
.J29 
Copy 1 



Indian Diplomacy and the Opening of the 
Revolution in the West 

By James Alton James, Ph. D. 

Professor of History in Northwestern University 



[From the Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for 1909, 

pages I 25—142] 



Madison 
Published by the Society 

1910 



Indian Diplomacy and the Opening of the 
Revolution in the West 

By James Alton James, Ph. D. 
Professor of History in Northwestern University 



[From the Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for 1 909, 

pages 125—142] 



Madison 

PubHshed by the Society 

1910 



i' 



^A 



Gin 

The Society 
JUN 13 19lt 



Indian Diplomacy and Opening 
of the Revolution in the West 



By James Alton James, Ph. D. 

From the opening of the Eevolutionary War, American lead- 
ers looked to the conquest of Detroit, the headquarters of the 
posts and key to the fur-trade and control of the Indian tribes 
to the northwest of the Ohio.^ Throughout the war, this post, 
in the possession of the British, "continued," as Washington 
wrote, "to be a source of trouble to the whole Western coun- 
try. "^ 

The garrison at Detroit, at the beginning of the year 1776, 
consisted of 120 soldiers under the command of Capt. Richard 
Lernoult. The fort was defended by a "stockade of Picquets," 



^American Archives. 4th ser., iii, p. 1368; Mich. Pion. and Hist;, 
Colls., xxvii, pp. 612 et seq. 

From this post, a trace led westward by way of the Maumee and/ 
across the upper Wabash to Post St. Vincent. In lilce manner an 
Indian path extended to Kaskaskia and other posts on the upper- 
Mississippi. Not only was it a great centre for the fur-trade, but iJh 
years of good harvests flour and grain were furnished to other posts 
from Detroit. — Draper MSS., 46J9. The post was of great importance 
during the French regime. Indians from the Northwest took part, in 
common with Canadians, in the battle on the Plains of Abraham. 
June 29, 1759, a courier announced that there were about to arrive 
100 French and 150 Indians from Detroit; 600 to 700 Indians with 
M. Linctot, 100 Indians with M. Rayeul, and the convoy of M. Auhry 
from Illinois with 600 to 700 Indians. Twelve hundred other Indians 
from the same region were also reported to be on the way. — Wis. Hist. 
Colls., xviii, pp. 212, 213. 

2 Letter to Daniel Brodhead, Dec. 29, 1780. 

[125] 



Wisconsin Historical Society 

about nine feet out of the earth, without "frize or ditch." 
Three hundred and fifty French and English made up the en- 
tire number of men in the town and near-by country, capable 
of bearing arms.^ The majority of these men were French 
militiamen assembled under their own officers. Commanding 
the fort were two British armed schooners and three sloops 
manned by thirty "seamen and servants." There was not a 
single gunner among the crews ; they were dissatisfied with the 
service and incapable of making much resistance. 

Three hundred miles away to the southeast was Fort Pitt, 
the only American fortification (1775) guarding the long front- 
ier stretching from Greenbrier, in southwestern Virginia, to 
Kittanning on the upper Allegheny.* This fort was without a 
garrison. The inhabitants were dependent on the protection of 
the militia of the neighboring counties, and large numbers were 
reported to be in a most defenceless condition.^ 

From these two centres, in council after council, were to be 
exercised all of the diplomatic finesse of white men in attempts 
to gain control over the Indians of the Northwest. Assembled 
at some of these conferences were the chiefs and other repre- 
sentatives of the Delawares of the Muskingum and the Ohio; 
the Shawnee and Mingo of the Scioto, the Wyandot, Ottawa, 
and Potawatomi of Lake Michigan, the Chippewa of all the 
Lakes ; and, besides these, the Miami, Seneca, Sauk, and numer- 



sThwaites and Kellogg, Revolution on the Upper Ohio (Madison, 
Wis., 1908), pp. 147-151. 

Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton arrived Nov. 9, 1775, but Captain 
Lernoult commanded the troops until the summer of 1776. 

The total population in 1773 was about 1,400; 298 of them men. — 
Mich. Pion. and Hist. Colls., ix, p. 649. The population in 1778 was 
2144; 564 being men. — lUd., p. 469. 

4 Port Blair, near the mouth of the Kanawha, had been evacuated 
by order of Governor Dunmore, and was burned by some of the Ohio 
Indians. — Amer. Archives, 4th ser., iv, p. 201. 

5 George Morgan, Indian agent at Fort Pitt, in a letter of May 16, 
1776, reported that there was "scarcely powder west of the Mountains 
sufficient for every man to prime his gun and only 200 lb. wt. in the 
Fort here." — Letter to Lewis Morris, Papers of Continental Congress, 
vol. 163, entitled "Generals Clinton, Nixon, Nicola, et al., pp. 237-239. 

[126] 



Indian Diplomacy 



ous other tribes. All told, the Northwestern tribes numbered 
some 8,000 warriors.® 

It is not certain which of the urgent invitations issued in 
May, 1775, by Col. Guy Johnson'^ and by Ethan Allen to take 
up arms, met with the earliest response. 

The latter thus wrote to some of the Canadian tribes :^ 

I want to have your warriours come and see me, and help me fight 
the King's Regular Troops. You know they stand all close together, 
rank and file, and my men fight so as Indians do, and I want your 
warriours to join with me and my warriours like brothers, and am- 
bush the Regulars; if you will, I will give you money, blankets, 
tomahawks, knives, paint and anything that there is in the army 
just like brothers, and I will go with you into the woods to scout; 
and my men and your men will sleep together, and eat and drink 
together, and fight Regulars, because they first killed our brothers. 

Ye know my warriours must fight, but if you our brother Indians 
do not fight on either side, we will still be friends and brothers; and 
you may come and hunt in our woods, and come with your canoes 
in the lake and let us have venison at our forts on the lake, and have 
rum, bread and what you want and be like brothers. 

In general, the American policy tended towards securing 
Indian neutrality, which was clearly stated by the Continental 
Congress in a speech prepared for the Six Nations early in 
July, 1775. The war was declared to be a family quarrel be- 
tween the colonists and Old England, in which the Indians 
were in no way concerned. It was urged that they should re- 
main at home and not join on either side, but ''keep the hatchet 
buried deep."® They were apprehensive of the policy to be 



6 Delaw^ares and Munsee 600, Shawnee, 600, Wyandot 300, Ottawa 
GOO, Chippewa 5,000, Potawatomi 400, Kickapoo, Vermillion, and other 
small tribes of the Wabash 800, Miami or Picts 300, Mingo of Pluggy's 
Town (Scioto River) 60. — Morgan, Letter Book, iii, March 27, 1778. 

Wyandot 180, Tawa 450, Potawatomi 450, Chippewa 5,000, Shawnee 
300, Delawares or Munsee 600, Miami 300. — Schoolcraft, Indian Tfites, 
iii, pp. 560, 561. 

The Sauk, Foxes, and Iowa numbered some 1,400 warriors. 

7 A7}ier. Archives, 4th ser., ii, p. 665. 

8 This letter was written from Crown Point, May 24, 1775. — Ibid., 
pp. 713, 714. 

9 July 13, 1775.— Ibid., p. 1882. 

[127 1 



Wisconsin Historical Society 

pursued by the British. Consequently, three departments of 
Indian affairs were created, to be under the control of com- 
missioners, whose duties were to treat with the Indians in order 
to preserve their peace and friendship and prevent them from 
taking part in the present commotions. They were to super- 
intend also the distribution of arms, ammunition, and clothing, 
such as was essential to the existence of the Indians.^" 

Within a year, however, a resolution was passed that it was 
highly expedient to engage the Indians in the service of the 
united colonies and especially to secure their co-operation in 
bringing about the reduction of Detroit. ^^ 

In a dispatch to Congress, George Morgan thus outlined the 
plan which, in general, was pursued by Indian agents of the 
best type on the frontier -^^ 

We shall ever hold it our duty, to exert our utmost influence to pre- 
vent hostilities and to promote peace and harmony with the Indian 
tribes. The cheapest and most humane mode of obtaining an al- 
liance with the savages is by buying of their friendship. They have 
been long taught by contending nations to be bought and sold. We 
are well satisfied we can bestow our country no service more es- 
sential to her interest than by restraining the hostilities of the Indians 
and giving ease to the minds of our frontier inhabitants. 

Indeed, this was the safest course to pursue, for on the front- 
iers constant danger from retaliatory attacks outweighed any 



10 July 12, 1771"), in Ibid., p. 1879. The three departments were 
Northern, Middle, and Southern. The Northern Department included 
the Six Nations and all other Indians north of these tribes. The 
Southern included the Cherokee and other Southern tribes. The 
Middle, all Indians between the territory of the two others. There 
were to be five commissioners for the Southern and three each for the 
two other departments. 

11 Journals of Continental Congress, iv, p. 395. 

The commissioners were instructed, May 25, 1776, to offer as an 
irducement £50 of Pennsylvania currency for every prisoner (soldier 
of the garrison) brought to them. The Indians were to be given the 
free plunder of the garrison. 

Washington was authorized to employ Indians, on June 17, 1776. — 
Id. (new ed.), v, p. 452. 

12 Morgan, Letter Book, ii, July 30, 1776. 

[128] 



Indian Diplomacy 



assistance which might be secured through the enlistment of 
Indians. 

The British early employed the savages to cut off outlying 
settlements. Under plea that the "rebels" had used Indians 
in their hostilities on the frontier of Quebec, after the capture 
of Ticonderoga, and that they had brought Indians for the at- 
tack on Boston, General Gage urged that General Carleton 
might be privileged to use Canadians and Indians for a counter 
stroke.^^ 

The letter which followed, containing "His Majesty's com- 
mands for engaging a body of Indians," and promising a large 
assortment of goods for presents, was of form merely. On the 
day it was written, 500 Indians were brought to Montreal to 
join the English army." Thereafter, the British were to en- 
list the savages for service with the regular army, as well as to 
employ them with more terrible results in cutting off outlying 
settlements and raiding the frontiers. 

There was necessity for prompt action on the part of the 
Americans, in order that they might gain the friendship of the 
tribes beyond the Ohio. In the provisional treaty at Camp 
Charlotte, Governor Dunmore promised the Indians that he 
would return in the spring and bring it to completion. By 
that time, the Revolutionary movement had assumed such pro- 
portions that he deemed it inadvisable to risk a journey to the 
frontier. Again, he found a ready agent in Dr. John Con- 
nolly,^^ a bold, enterprising, restless character who had been 
left in command of the garrison of seventy-five men at Fort 
Dunmore. In a conference at AA^illiamsburg. in February, 
Major Connolly was instructed by Lord Dunmore to use his 
efforts to induce the Indians to espouse the cause of Great 
Britain. In thi^ he succeeded, in so far as he brought together 
at Pittsburgh the chiefs of the Delawares and a few Mingo, 
whom he assured that a general treaty, with pre^nts, was soon 
to be held with all the Ohio Indians.^® Disbanding the garri- 



13 June 12, 1775, General Gage to Lord Dartmouth. — Amer. Archives, 
4th ser., ii, p. 968. 

14 August 2, 1775.— Id., iii, pp. 6, 12. 

^^penna. Colon. Records, 1760-1776, pp. 477, 484, 485, 637, 682. 
16 Rev. on Upper Ohio, p. 35. 

[129] 



Wisconsin Historical Society 

son in July, he returned to find Dunmore a fugitive on board 
a man-of-war off York. Together they concocted a plan 
fraught with grave consequences for the back country and for 
the American cause in general. In a personal interview, Con- 
nolly won the assent of General Gage to the plan, and received 
instructions for the development.^" It was designed that Con- 
nolly should proceed to Detroit, where he was to have placed 
under his command the garrison from Fort Gage, led by Capt. 
Hugh Lord. This nucleus of an army, together with the 
French and Indians of Detroit, was to proceed to Fort Pitt. 
It was hoped that their force would be enhanced by the Ohio 
Indians, for whom liberal presents were provided, and by num- 
bers of the militia from Augusta County, who for their loyalty 
were to have 300 acres of land confirmed to each of them. Forts 
Pitt and Fincastle were to be destroyed, should they offer resist- 
ance, and the expedition was then to take and fortify Fort 
Cumberland and capture Alexandria, assisted by troops led by 
Dunmore and landed under protection of the ships of war.^* 
Thus were the Southern colonies to be cut off from the North- 
ern. 

Conditions promised well for the success of the enterprise. 
Connolly had won the favor of the Indians; Fort Pitt, as al- 
ready noted, was in a condition to offer but little defense ; and 
the backwoodsmen were without the necessary equipment in 
arms and ammunition, to obstruct such an expedition. They 
were disunited also, because of the Pennsylvania and Virginia 
boundary dispute. A letter from Connolly to a supposed friend 
at Pittsburgh, led to his betrayal. Virginia authorities were 
informed of the intrigue. Runners were sent out from all the 
Southern provinces into the Indian nations through which he 
proposed to pass, with orders for his arrest.^^ With three asso- 
ciates, he was captured near Hagerstown, while on his way to 
Fort Pitt.2o 



1" The entire plan is given in Ibid., pp. 140-142. 

isThwaites and Kellogg, Dunmore's War (Madison, Wis., 1905), 
p. 86; Amer. Archives, 4tli ser., iv, p. 616. 

i9 7(Z.. lii, p. 1543. 

20 A copy of the plan was in their possession. Capture of Connolly, 
in Id., iv, p. 616. 

[130 1 



Indian Diplomacy 

For upwards of two years thereafter, the frontiers were free 
from any general participation in the war. Meantime, immi- 
gration to the West continued,-^ and the contest went on between 
British and American agents for ascendency over the Indians 
of that region. 

Major Connolly had conducted his treaty with the Indians at 
Pittsburgh in the presence of the committee of correspondence of 
West Augusta County. -- The provisions and goods furnished by 
the committee on that occasion assisted materially in gaining 
the good-will of the Indians for later negotiations. A petition 
to Congress from the committee, followed at an early date, set- 
ting forth their fears of a rupture with the Indians on account 
of the late conduct of Governor Dunmore, and asking that com- 
missioners from Pennsylvania and Virginia should be appointed 
to confer with the Indians at Pittsburgh.-^ 

On June 24, therefore, six commissioners were appointed by 
Virginia for the purpose of making a treaty with the Ohio In- 
dians, and a sum of £2,000 was appropriated for that purpose. 
Capt. James Wood, one of the commissioners, a man well-versed 
in frontier affairs, was delegated to visit the tribes and extend 
to them an invitation to attend the conference at Pittsburgh. 
He was likewise to exphiin the dispute to the Indians, make them 
sensible of the great unanimity of the colonies, and "assure 
them of our Peaceable Intentions towards them and that we 
did not stand in need of or desire any assistance from them."^* 

The day following. Captain Wood set out from Williamsburg 
on his hazardous journey of two months, accompanied by Simon 
Girty, his sole companion, who acted as interpreter. The report 
made on his return was not wholly promising for the cause he 
represented. His reception by the Delawares, Shawnee, and 
other tribes was friendly, for the fear excited by the battle of 
Point Pleasant was still upon them.^^ He learned, however, 



21 More "cabin improvements" were made in 1776 than in any other 
year.— Draper MSS., 4C485. 

22 Rev. on Upper OMo, pp. 37, 38. 

-^ Jour, of Continental Congress (new ed.), ii, p. 76. 
24 Rev. on Upper Ohio, p. 35. 

23 These two tribes had invited others to unite with them against the 
English in 1764.— Wis. Hist. Colls., xviii, p. 262. 

[131] 



Wisconsin Historical Society 

that two British emissaries had already presented belts and 
strings of wampum to seventeen nations, inviting them to irnite 
with the French and English against the Virginians.^® They 
were warned that an attack by the ' ' Big Knives ' ' was imminent 
from two directions, by the Ohio and by the Great Lakes. The 
Virginians were a distinct people, they were assured, and an 
attack upon them would in no case be resented by the other 
colonies. Besides, the invitation to a treaty, which would be 
extended to them, should under no conditions be accepted; for 
the representatives who were to meet at Pittsburgh could not be 
depended upon. Similar advice was given the tribes of the up- 
per Allegheny River, brought together at Niagara. Many of 
these Indians, at the instigation of Governor Carleton and Guy 
Johnson, were induced to go to Albany, and many more to Mon- 
treal, to join the British armies. 

The Virginia commissioners, together with those appointed by 
Congress, assembled at Pittsburgh, September 10. Thus, not- 
withstanding English opposition,"^ which in a measure had been 
overcome by traders, chiefs, and delegates from the Seneca, 
Delawares, Wyandot, Mingo, and Shawnee gathered slowly for 
the conference. Each tribe on arrival was received with ''Drum 
and Colours and a Salute of small arms from the Garrison. "^^ 

During a period of three weeks, the commissioners strove by 
speech, and through presents of clothing and strings of wam- 
pum, to convince the Indians that they should keep the hatchet 
buried, and use all endeavor to induce the Six Nations and 
other tribes to remain absolutely neutral. They were assured 
that the cause of Virginia was the cause of all America. The 
commissioners say.^^ 

In this dispute your Interest is Involved with ours so far as this, 
that in Case those People with whom we are Contending shou'd 
Subdue us, your Lands, your Trade, your Liherty and all that is dear 
to you must fall with us, for if they wou'd Distroy our flesh and Spill 
our Blood which is the same with theirs; what can you who are no 
way related to or Connected with them to Expect? * * * we are 



26 Amer. Archives, 4th ser., iii, pp. 76-78. 

27 Ibid., pp. 1542, 1543. 

28 Rev. on Upper Ohio, p. 74. 

29 Ibid., p. 95. 

[132] 



Indian Diplomacy 



r.ot Affraid these People will Conquer us, they Can't fight in our 
Country, and you Know we Can; we fear not them, nor any Power 
on Earth. 

In the event of American success, they declare, with true 
American assurance, they would be so incensed against those 
Indians who fought against them, "that they would march an 
army into their country, destroy them and take their lands 
from them. "2° To still further convince the Indians of their 
invincibility, they assert that the Indian tribes at the North 
were ready to become their allies, and that the people of Canada, 
with the exception of a few of Governor Carleton's fools, were 
friendly to the American cause.^^ The natives were invited to 
send their children to be educated among the white people, with- 
out expense to themselves.^^ No little trouble was experienced 
in leading the Indians to agree to surrender all prisoners and 
negroes, and deliver up stolen horses. This done, peace "to 
endure forever" was established. 

That these children of the woods were greatly divided, and 
at a loss how to act, was in no way surprising. Promises of the 
British emissaries for a successful issue of their arms, were pre- 
sented in a fashion quite as alluring. Lieutenant-Governor 
Hamilton learned of the treaty shortly after it was concluded, 
through an Indian who was present, and a Frenchman who had 
been stationed within ten miles of Pittsburgh. The special mis- 
ision of this Frenchman was to discover the effect of the treaty 
upon the savages, and neutralize the results wherever possible.^'* 

Hamilton felt convinced that any treaty which might have 
been made would endure for a brief period only, on account of 
the "haughty, violent dispositions" of the Virginians. But 
arms, ammunition, rum, and other presents in ever-increasing 



30 Amer. Archives, 5th ser., ii, p. 518. 

31 Rev. on Upper Ohio, p. 95. 

32 Amer. Archives, 4th ser., iii, p. 1542. 

Dr. Thomas Walker, on his return, took a young Indian with him 
to be educated. On quitting Virginia, in 1779, this Indian became an 
enemy of the state. 

33 Rev. on Upper Ohio, pp. 127-135. 



[133] 



Wisconsin Historical Society 

quantities, were the ready means of winning savage favor.^* 
That the colonists might make a show of presents at first, but 
that they would be unable to furnish the different nations with 
their necessary wants, was an argument shrewdly used by Brit- 
ish officials, for the savages had already become aware of Amer- 
ican poverty. Threats to send canoe-loads of goods back to 
Montreal, were whips upon such tribes as might show any dis- 
position to waver. 

But the jealousy of the Indians was most quickly aroused by 
accounts of encroachments upon their lands. The contest for 
their alliance brought out what seemed to the Indians to be two 
distinct policies. Congress decreed that no encroachments 
should be made beyond the line agreed upon at Fort Stanwix,^^ 
The commissioners at Pittsburgh declared it to be their purpose 
not to encroach on Indian lands, and to retain only the tracts 
acquired by treaty.^^ 

It became increasingly difficult for the authorities to keep 
faith with the Indians, for the acquisition of extensive tracts 
of their lands, beyond the fixed boundary, was continuous.'' 
Frontiersmen continued to push the settled area forward, in 
total disregard of proclamations and boundaries. There were 
many of them who even hoped for a general Indian war, in or- 
der that the seizure of lands might go forward. To this end, 
parties were formed for the purpose of killing Indians on their 
way for a friendly visit, and for waylaying hunters on their 



34 "What I mentioned to you on the subject of expenses," General 
Carleton wrote to Hamilton, Oct. 6, 1776, "was in consequence of in- 
structions from the Treasury, but it was not intended to limit you 
with regard to such as are absolutely necessary for putting your Post 
in a proper state of defence and for keeping the Indians in readiness 
for, and a disposition to act as circumstances shall require." — Mich. 
Pion. and Hist. Colls., ix, p. 344. 

"But the Indians must have presents," another official exclaimed; 
"whenever we fall off from that article, they are no more to be de: 
pended upon." — De Peyster to Haldimand, lUd., p. 375. 

^'> Jour, of Continental Congress, iv, p. 318 (April 29, 1776). 

3e Rev. on Upper Ohio, pp. 98, 118. 

3T From 1775 to November, 1778, the amount of Indian lands thus 
acquired was reported to be seventy million acres. — Letter of George 
Morgan to Henry Laurens, Nov. 29, 1778, Morgan Letter Book. iii. 

r 134 1 



Indian Diplomacy 

own lands. Scouting parties employed by the county-lieuten- 
ants on the Monongahela and the Ohio were guilty of acts of 
lawlessness,^^ which pointed to a premeditated design to bring 
on general hostilities. 

According to an English proclamation, no deeds to lands were 
considered valid until they were passed by the authority of the 
chief governor, registered at Quebec, and entered at the office in 
Detroit. Governor Hamilton declared at the close of the year 
1778 that he had never granted lands at Detroit.^^ He said :*° 

As there has been a restraint laid upon granting land to settlers 
at this place, whose farms are snaall and families numerous, the 
consequence has been young men growing to age engage as Canoemen, 
go off to distant settlements and in general become vagabonds so that 
the settlement does not increase in numbers as may be seen by com- 
paring the recensment of 1776 with that of 1766. 

The attention of the Indians was called to the fact, of which 
they were already w^ell aware, that the ''Big Knife" had been 
pushing them back for many years and would not rest until he 
was possessed of all this country. The origin of the following 
message, therefore, from the Six Nations and Chippewa to the 
Virginians and Pennsylvanians, early in the year 1777, may be 
easily discerned:*^ 

You have feloniously tal-ren possession of part of our country on 
the branches of the Ohio as well as the Susquehanna. To the latter 
[Pennsylvanians] we have some time since sent you word to quit our 
Lands as we now do to you as we don't know we ever give you liberty 
nor can we be easy in our minds while there is an arm'd force at 
our very doors nor do we think you or anybody else would — There- 
fore to use you with more lenity than you have a right to expect, 
we now tell you in a peaceful manner to quit our lands wherever you 
have possessed yourselves of them immediately or blame yourselves 
for whatever may happen. 

While the treaty at Pittsburgh had been made, in the language 
of its text, to last "until the sun shall shine no more, or the 



38 Rev. on Upper Ohio, pp. 27, 34. Morgan Letter Booh, i, April 1, 
1777. Five or six spies fired on three Delaware Indians in their 
hunting camp, which they afterwards plundered. 

3s Mich. Pion. and Hist. Colls., ix, p. 474. 

40 76ifZ.. p. 433. 

41 Morgan Letter Book, i, Feb. 2, 1777. 

[135] 



Wisconsin Historical Society 

waters fail to run in the Ohio, ' ' both of these reverses of nature 
seem to have taken place in the Indian imagination by the fol- 
lowing spring. In the meantime, they had been visited by 
British agents to secure their adherence.*^ The traces to De- 
troit were well worn by the tribes which assembled there to meet 
Hamilton, who strove in every way to excite the Indians to take 
up the hatchet.*^ To this end, British officers were generous 
with their presents and lavish in their hospitality, partaking 
with the Indians in the feast of roast ox, and recovering their 
dead anew with rum. 

Various desultory expeditions by the Indians kept the fron- 
tiers in continuous alarm. During the conference at Pittsburgh, 
wandering bands of Wyandot and Mingo went to the mouth of 
the Kentucky, "to look at the white people." On their return, 
they shot two white boys at Boonesborough. Three warriors of 
the Six Nations returned in June with two prisoners. A party 
of four Shawnee, returning in August from the Cherokee coun- 
try, killed two white men at Big Bone Lick. The whites retali- 
ated by shooting two of the Indians.** 

Congress, early in April, appointed Col. George Morgan In- 
dian agent for the Middle Department. The choice was a wise 
one. For a number of years he had been a trader in the Illinois 
country, where he had become noted among the Indians for his 
generosity and strict honesty. No man of the time better under- 
stood the methods necessary in winning the friendship of the 
Western tribes. He was instructed to forward at once the 
great belt presented to the Indians at Pittsburgh.*^ The commis- 
sioners for the Middle Department were directed to conclude a 
treaty with the Western tribes at the earliest convenient time. 
Morgan was, so far as possible, to adjust all differences through 
arbitration*" — in the language of the instructions:*'^ 



42 Rev. on Upper Ohio, p. 144. 

43 Morgan Letter Book, ii, Aug. 31, 1776. 

44 lUd., Aug. 7, 1776. 

45 Jour, of Continental Congress, iv, p. 268. 

46 One of the arbitrators was to be selected by the commissioners — 
•or, in their absence, by the Indian agent — and one each by the parties 
in the dispute. — Ihid.. p. 268. 

■i^ Ibid., pp. 294, 301. 

[136] 



Indian Diplomacy 

Inspire them with justice and humanity, and dispose them to in- 
troduce the arts of civil and social life and to encourage the residence 
of husbandmen and handicraftsmen among them. 

In pursuance of this general policy, assurance had already 
been given to the Delawares by Congress, upon the request of 
their chief, that in addition to the establishment of satisfactory 
trade relations and the protection of their right to the lands,*^ 
there should be sent to them a schoolmaster, a Christian minis- 
ter, and a man competent to give them instruction in agricul- 
ture.''^ 

Arriving at Pittsburgh, ]\Iay 16, 1776, Morgan, in his endeavor 
to prevent the attendance of the Indians at a council called by 
Hamilton at Detroit, proceeded at once to the Shawnee towns."** 
William Wilson, a trader who accompanied Morgan, extended 
the invitation to other tribes to assemble at Pittsburgh, Septem- 
ber 10, for the purpose of making a treaty. 

No incident better illustrates the situation which Americans 
were forced to meet in these critical preliminary years, than 
Wilson's reception by Hamilton. With three companions, Wil- 
son, upon invitation of the Wyandot, visited their village oppo- 
site Detroit and delivered to the chiefs the speech and belt sent 
by Morgan. ^^ Hamilton having expressed the desire to speak 
with him in a friendly manner, Wilson accompanied the chiefs 
to Detroit. In explaining the message to the Indians, Hamilton 
declared that the people who sent it were enemies and traitors 
to his king, and that he would prefer to lose his right hand 
rather than take one of them by the hand. Tearing the speech 
and cutting the belt to pieces, he then spoke to the assembled 
Indians on a tomahawk belt. 

White Eyes, chief of the Delawares, who accompanied Wil- 
son, was ordered to leave Detroit before sunset, * ' as he regarded 



isibid., p. 268. 

49 Speech to Captain White Eyes (April 10, 1776), who had passed 
the winter in Philadelphia. — Ibid., p. 269. 

The preceding November, two blacksmiths were employed to reside 
among the Iroquois and work for them. — Id., iii, p. 366. 

50 Amer. Archives, 5th ser., ii, p. 514. 

51 White Eyes and John Montour were two of his companions. — 
Ibid., p. 515. 

[137] 



Wisconsin Historical Society 

his head." Wilson, likewise, was directed to leave at once, re- 
ceiving a parting word from the governor, which was well 
calculated to excite fear among the frontiersmen and enthusiasm 
for the British cause among the savages. In reporting the af- 
fair, Wilson thus quoted Hamilton's remarks: 

He would be glad "if I would Inform the people on my return of 
what I had seen; that all the Indians I saw there at the treaty were 
of the same way of thinking; and that he would be glad if the people 
would consider the dreadful consequences of going to war with so 
terrible an enemy and accept the King's pardon while it could be 
obtained." 

Hamilton then informed Wilson that an army of 20,000 men 
were landed in Canada, and had driven the rebels entirely out 
of that government and were pursuing them to the southward; 
that 20,000 more were landed in New York, and the same num- 
ber to the southward, with the completest train of artillery that 
ever came out of Europe on any occasion, and that the king's 
triumph was assured.^- 

The summer months were full of foreboding for the now ter- 
ror-stricken frontiersmen. Six hundred Cherokee were reported 
as being ready to strike the Virginia frontier with a determina- 
tion to kill or make prisoners of all the people. These savages 
had also accepted the war-belt from the Shawnee and Mingo, 
and agreed to fall on the Kentucky settlements.^^ A general 
confederation of all the Western tribes was reported, with the 
aim of destroying all frontier settlements,^* and there was delay 
only until their scattered young men should be called in and 
the corn necessary for subsistence should ripen. In a speech to 
the Mingo, the most desperate of savage tribes, Hamilton is said 
to have stirred up their most brutal instincts. As he delivered 
to them the tomahawk, bullets, and powder, having previously 



52 iMd., p. 518. General Howe wrote Lord Germaine as to the actual 
situation as follows: "Upon the present appearance of things, I 
look upon the further progress of this army for the campaign to be 
rather precarious, an attack upon Rhode Island excepted." 

53 76i(Z., p. 1236— "Overhill Cherokee." 

54 Morgan Letter Book, ii, Aug. 31, 1776: Indian commissioners to 
a committee of "Westmoreland County. 

[138] 



Indian Diplomacy 



taken part, as usual, with his officers in the war-song,^'' he de- 
clared : " 

that he wonder'd to see them so^ foolish as not to see that the Big 
Knife was come up very near to them and claimed one half the water 
in the Ohio and that if any of the Indians cross'd over to their side 
of the River they immediately took him, laid his head on a big block 
and chopp'd it off, that he had now put them in a way to prevent 
such usage and that if they met any of them they should strike 
their tomahawks into their heads, cut off some of the hair and bring 
it to him. 

It was suspected that 1,500 Chippewa and Ottawa were ren- 
dezvousing with the intention of attacking Fort Pitt.^'^ Driven 
to desperation, backwoodsmen forsook their clearings, evacuat- 
ing the country for 200 miles, except at certain places where 
some of them forted.^® 

At the time, the frontier defense was entrusted to 100 men 
at Fort Pitt, 100 at Big Kanawha, and 25 at "Wheeling, all in 
the pay of Virginia. These numbers were far too meagre for 
the purpose, much less capable of any offensive warfare.^® Mes- 
sengers were dispatched to Congress and to Williamsburg, im- 
ploring an augmentation of the numbers in the garrisons and 
the formation of new posts having proper supplies of ammuni- 
tion and provisions. "^^ The militia of AVestmoreland and West 
Augusta coimties were called out.®^ The county-lieutenants of 
Hampshire, Dunmore, Frederick, and Berkeley were directed to 
collect provisions and hold their militia in readiness to march 
to Fort Pitt for immediate service.^^ A company of militia was 



55 Mich. Pion. and Hist. Colls., ix, p. 482. 

56 Morgan Letter Book, ii, Aug. 18, 31, 1776: to the committee of 
Congress for Indian affairs. 

57 Rev. on Upper Ohio, p. 200. 

58 Morgan Letter Book, i, Nov. 8, 1776: George Morgan to John Han- 
cock, president of Congress. 

59 M., ii, Aug. 18, 1776: to committee on Indian affairs. 

60 Congress directed that a ton of gunpowder should immediately be 
sent. — Jour. Continental Congress, iv, p. 396. 

61 Rev. on Upper Ohio. p. 200. 

62 Morgan Letter Book, ii, Aug. 31, 1776: commissioners to county- 
lieutenants. 

10 [ 130 1 



Wisconsin Historical Society 

ordered oiit as ''rangers" for Fineastle County. But notwith- 
standing the defenseless condition of the frontier, apprehension 
was so widespread lest the savages should destroy their homes 
during their absence, that the militia was gotten together only 
after great delay, "'^ many absolutely refusing the draft.^* 

Not until the 644 warriors and chiefs representing the Six 
Nations, Delawares, Munsee, and Shawnee assembled at Pitts- 
burgh, was it known for what purpose they came. The confer- 
ence served to dissipate the widespread gloom, for these Indian 
envoys promised "inviolable peace with the United States and 
neutrality during the war with Great Britain. "^^ Twelve chiefs 
were induced to visit Philadelphia, where they were introduced 
to Congress. For a few months after the treaty, all the other 
Western tribes, with the exception of a few of the Mingo known 
as Pluggy's Band, seemed desirous of preserving peaceful rela- 
tions.^^ 

With difficulty. Colonel Morgan persuaded the Virginia au- 
thorities that an expedition''^ against these banditti would tend 
to bring on general hostilities with the tribes already jealous of 
the slightest encroachment by Americans.^® He thought it more 
essential to restrain the frontiersmen and promote good order 
among them ; to pacify leading men among the tribes by liberal 



63 Amer. Archives, 5th ser., ii, p. 513. 
64i?ev. on Upper Ohio, pp. 174, 240. 

65 Morgan Letter Book, i, Nov. 8, 1776: Morgan to John Hancock. 
Amer. Archives, 5th ser., iii, pp. 599, 600. 

66 Morgan Letter Book, i, Jan. 4, 1777. 

It has been estimated that there were some seventy families in- 
cluded in this band. They were joined by twenty young men of the 
Shawnee tribe. — IMd., March 9, 1777. 

e-ribid., March 12, 1777. 

"You are to take command," wrote Patrick Henry to Col. David 
Shepherd, "of 300 men drawn from the militia of Monongalia, Yoho- 
gania and Ohio Counties or either of them and to march with utmost 
secrecy and expedition to punish the Indians of Pluggy's Town for 
their late cruelties committed upon the people of this state." 

68 They were at the time exercised because of the settlement of lands 
on the Ohio, below the Kanawha and in Kentucky. 



[140] 



Indian Diplomacy 

donations; and in all respects treat the Indians with ''Justice, 
humanity and Hospitality."^^ 

During the summer of 1777, the British began to employ 
more aggressive measures, with the view of distressing the fron- 
tiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania as much as possible.'^" Gen- 
eral Carleton directed that the savages should be kept in readi- 
ness to join his forces in the spring, or march elsewhere, "as 
they may be most wanted. "'^^ 

Several months earlier, the plan to employ the Indians for 
this purpose had been proposed by Hamilton. In fulfillment 
of his desires, he was directed to use any means within his 
power to crush the ' ' rebellion ' ' and to assemble as many Indians 
as convenient, under suitable leaders, for that purpose.'^^ From 
the friendly disposition manifested by the representatives of 
the leading tribes of the Northwest, in a council held at Detroit 
(June 17, 1777), Hamilton felt assured that 1,000 warriors were 
ready to overrun the frontier. Although war-bands were ex- 
horted to act vigorously, they were urged to act with humanity.'^' 
But resolutions voiced by chiefs, to pay strict attention to the 
injunction that they spare the blood of the aged and of women 
and children, were idle.''* Special presents for proofs of obedi- 
ence signified little, where scalps were paid for.'^^ 

]\Ieantime much time was consumed at Pittsburgh in the dis- 
cussion on the character of aggressive operation^ to be under- 
taken. It was counseled that an expedition to Detroit was the 



c» Morgan Letter Book, i, April 1, 1777. 

TO Draper MSS., 3NN71. 

71 Mich. Pion. and Hist. Colls., Ix, p. .344. 

78 Letter of Lord George Germaine, March 26, 1777, in Ibid., pp. 346, 
347. 

T3 Draper MSS., 49J13. 

T4 Mich. Pion. and Hist. Colls., ix, p. 454. 

T5 Morgan Letter Book, iii, March 20, 1778. 

Daniel Sullivan, in a letter to Col. John Cannon, spoke of a visit to 
Detroit, disguised as an Indian trader, for the purpose of ascertaining 
conditions. While there, he learned that Hamilton, in his determina- 
tion to destroy' the frontier settlements, was wont to pay "very high 
prices in goods for scalps the Indians brought in. That he likewise 
pays for Prisoners but does not redeem them from the Savages and 
says he will not do it until the expiration of the present war." 

[ 141 ] 



Wisconsin Historical Society 

only remedy against the incursions of Indians. Others held this 
plan to be impracticable and unnecessary. No more telling 
reasons for the probability of a successful attack on Detroit, 
were formulated during the entire war, than those submitted 
by Colonel Morgan. He urged -J^ first, That the road was prac- 
ticable; second, that the Delawares and Shawnee were disposed 
to remain quiet; third, that there were no powerful tribes near 
or on the road to Detroit, to oppose such an expedition ; fourth, 
that Detroit was at the time in a defenseless state; fifth, that it 
was from that post that the offending Western Indians were 
supplied "in all their wants and paid for all their murders;" 
and sixth, that its possession would induce all the tribes, through 
fear and interest, to enter into an American alliance.'^'^ For the 
purpose, he advised from 1,200 to 1,500 regular troops and such 
volunteers as might be secured. He opposed continuously the 
plan of General Mcintosh, who looked toward retaliatory expe- 
ditions. Not only were these expeditions failures, but they 
prevented the possibility of the capture of Detroit. Finding 
that his advise was unheeded, and confident that the policy then 
adhered to would produce a general Indian war, Colonel Morgan 
resigned his office as Indian agent. 

At this critical time, when the control of the Western Depart- 
ment was about to pass into the hands of incompetent men; 
when conditions seemed to warrant the recommendation by the 
Board of War for the immediate assembling of the Indians for 
another treaty ;'^^ and when it seemed probable that the British 
and their Indian confederates were prepared to overrun the en- 
tire frontier, the authorities at Detroit were forced to turn their 
attention to the advance of George Rogers Clark.'^^ With his 
coming, a new phase of the war in the West was inaugurated. 



76 Morgan Letter Book, iii, July 17, 1778: submitted to Col. Daniel 
Brodhead. 

77 It was his belief that there were only some 300 hostile Indians 
in the Western Department. Schoolcraft estimated that of the 7,280 
Indians capable of bearing arms, only 390 were in the employ of the 
British. In this estimate, however, he did not include the numbers 
enlisted from the Sauk, Fox, and Iowa tribes. These alone were able 
to summon 1,400 warriors. — Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, iii, pp. 560, 561. 

78 June 28, 1778. Jour, of Continental Congress, xi, p. 568. 

79 Hamilton learned of the capture of Kaskaskia on Aug. 6, 1778. — 
Mich. Pion. and Hist. Colls., ix, p, 490. 

[ 142 ] 




LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



011 800 717 7 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




011 800 717 7 



Hollinger 
pH S5 



